The Pillar of the Cloud

*** Revised Common Lectionary *** Lectionary Reading: Psalm 99 CLASSIC POEM: The Pillar of the Cloud John Henry Newman Lead, Kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead Thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home — Lead Thou me on! Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene, — one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor pray’d that Thou Should’st lead me on. I loved to choose and see my path; but now Lead Thou me on! I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears, Pride ruled my will: remember not past years. So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still Will lead me on, O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till The night is gone; And with the morn those angel faces smile Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile. *** This poem is in the public domain, and may be read in a live-streamed worship service. CONTEMPORARY POEM: Pillar of Cloud Jeffrey Levine SNIPPET: This is what happens to the man when the pillar of cloud appears. This is what happens when the pillar of cloud sculpts his torso with all ten thousand fingers of language while through the lens of Gothic science it reads palms, the counterpoint in them as if for a moment it had allowed the man to be Bach, to read along the figured notes, the complications in the weave. … [ READ THE FULL POEM ]